Heat pump systems use a refrigerant cycle to transfer heat (or energy) from a relatively cool side to a hotter side. At the cooler side, evaporation of the refrigerant occurs at a relatively low pressure. As a result, liquid is turned into vapor and heat is extracted from a media that can be air, water, brine, or even the ground. The generated vapor flows through one or more compressors where its pressure is raised. After leaving the compressor, the high pressure vapor flows into a condenser where it is turned into a liquid. At this stage, heat is released by the refrigerant into another media that can be air, water, brine, or the ground. The amount of heat released is roughly equal to the amount of heat extracted at the cooler side plus the amount of energy needed to drive the vapor refrigerant from the low pressure side (cool side) to the high pressure side (hotter side).
Because the refrigerant cycle in a heat pump can be reversed, the unit can be used for either heating or cooling. In principle, the refrigerant cycle for the two modes are comparable.
For heat pumps to operate efficiently, an adequate temperature difference must exist between the refrigerant and the medias (air, water, brine, or ground). From an efficiency standpoint, it is desirable that the heat pump deliver more energy (thermal) than it uses (electrical).
The heart of a heat pump or chiller system is the compressor. Each compressor type has an associated compressor map, i.e., an area function of saturated suction temperature and saturated discharge temperature. Manufacturers typically guarantee the reliability of the compressor if the compressor is operated within its compressor map. Unfortunately, compressors can operate outside their compressor map, unbeknownst to the user, until the compressor fails suddenly.